Eddie Van Halen FaceTimes With Terminal Prostate Cancer Patient

Eddie Van Halen made a dying man very happy yesterday. The Van Halen guitarist had a FaceTime conversation with a fan named Michael Brewer, who has been diagnosed with a terminal case of prostate cancer.

We learned about this from Van Halen News Desk, who said that Brewer's wife Julie had posted pictures of the online meeting to her Facebook page with the message, “Soooo...this just happened! Eddie & his wife Janie were simply amazing! Felt like we were sitting and chatting with a close friend! Thanks to Eddie & Janie Van Halen & everyone at LCFH [Lower Cape Fear Hospice] for making Michael’s dream come true! Eddie still has the best smile”

WWAY of Wilmington, N.C., broadcast the above story that shows the pictures. According to a previous report about Brewer, he was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease in 2013, and has since contracted chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and prostate cancer that has metastasized to his bones. Brewer, a 54-year-old resident of Carolina Beach, N.C., has been receiving palliative care at Lower Cape Fear Hospice since June.

“He is the person I’m suppose to sitting in a rocking chair 50 years from now and now that’s not going to happen," Julie said. “Nobody knows how long their lives are going to be, but to go through this with someone you’ve known for so long and to see him deteriorate before your eyes, that’s tough.”

Brewer checked off another one of his bucket list items on New Year's Eve when he flew in a helicopter. Now that he's also met Eddie Van Halen, who had a long-running bout with tongue cancer, he would like to learn how to play guitar and maybe read War and Peace.